Essay The Rites of Spring by Modris Eksteins

Many people would willingly assist someone in danger, yet many German citizens sat idle as innocent people were slaughtered by the thousands. By the mid 1920s, Germany was plunged into a state of economic depression and people were desperately looking for someone to follow. Many people simply conformed to the ideals of others, despite their own thoughts and beliefs. Herd mentality is the subconscious adoption of the attitudes and behaviors of one’s peers. As a result of this ingrained disposition, people are more likely to “bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one” (Taleb 192). Through the use of propaganda, Hitler effectively targeted people’s innate need to conform to prevent the rapid decline in his following

When one thinks of a ballet they hear soft rhythmic notes and see elegantly dancing ballerinas softly tip-toeing around the stage. This is also what people in early 1900’s expected to see when they planned to attend a ballet. However, a couple of motivated artists in 1913 literally planned to change the design of ballet, music and dance forever. On May 29, 1913 a ballet named The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris, France. The original title as it translates from Russian to French is; Le Sacre du Printemps, meaning the rite of spring, but the literal translation from Russian to English means “Sacred Spring”. The ballet and music were composed by Igor Stravinsky, with the help of Nicholas Roerich, who proposed the general idea behind the

By year twenty, billions of the population are deceased and all that remains now of the world are wastelands that endure the memory of bustling cities and small dispersed settlements of the few survivors. Although nothing’s the same, Mandel sheds light on the artistry and allure of the simple things. Saying, “What was lost in the collapse: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty” (Mandel 57). Talking about the scenery from nature and the production put on by the Traveling Symphony, Mandel subtly shows how it’s in our human nature to express oneself. Although nearly the entire population of the world was wiped out, art survived and remains in everything; unavoidably associated with human life, from the natural happenings of the environment to characteristics exhibited from people.

The Holocaust is history’s most painful example of mass-hysteria. With half a race violently extinguished, Nazi Germany deliberately and horribly massacred millions and millions of Jews. The people of Germany were in an economic and social state of disparity, open to all options of self-sustainment. Living in depression made Germans vulnerable to Hitler and his Nazis. When presented with a solution to their hunger and struggle, they were eager at the opportunity to thrive at the expense of Jews. Like Abigail and her friends, the Germans were faced in a situation of ‘kill or be killed’. They had the option of personal consequence verses succeeding through blame and violence. Germany’s acts sent the whole world into chaos and sent several large countries to war into a hysteria Hitler not only supported but encouraged.

Furthermore, he critiques the nihilist mentality corrupting the field of history, a disposition he sees as standing as adversarial to his more varied form of historical analysis and recollection (pg. 15-16). Oddly, Eksteins’ work often makes a good case for this more traditional organization

Listening to Music class has taught me a new way to listen and enjoy music. I have learned how to differentiate the melodies, rhythms, and instruments in a song. It has also introduced me to different genres in the music world, aside from what is usually played on the radio. I can now attend any concert, listen to any genre, or watch any ballet and easily recognize the many specific aspects the music being played has. Ballets are very interesting to me. The audience is able to enjoy the music being played as it is telling a story, and being acted out through the performer’s body language. In the two ballets, The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker, a great story is told in both referencing the many great dynamics music has. These two specific ballets are written by different composers, and each one of them have certain conditions they were written under. As well as different receptions, popularity, and development. The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker’s differences has made some sort of an impact in the performing world back then as well as now.

Paying homage to the Russian ballet “The Rite of Spring” with his novel’s title, Eksteins begins his analysis of World War I by discussing Stravinsky’s ballet, which premiered in 1913. The ballet, which shocked audiences by straying from what was most accepted during the time, is used in comparison to Germany and both world wars. According to Eksteins, both the ballet and Germany share similar notions of sacrifice being essential to life, and glorify death. Germany, specifically, glorified death as a means of fighting against the old orders in search of liberation and global acceptance of modernism. Therefore, Germany’s reasoning for fighting in World War I

The situations that arose in Germany were completely forced upon the country when Germany was forced to accept guilt for causing WWI. Being forcibly guilty put loads of pressure on the country. In Germany, the versailles treaty was considered an ‘Atrocious injustice’.(Doc H) When Germany was forced to take blame for WWI the inhabitants had to change practically their whole lifestyle to fit the new responsibilities placed onto their country. The Militaristic lifestyle the country once had was forcibly removed and controlled. Germany was

Foremost we must make clear the reasoning behind the expansion of the German armed forces before the outbreak of World War One. Military expansion was in direct consequence of increased competition among European colonial powers. Unlike Europe’s traditional powers such as England, France, and Russia, Germany was

Every power in Europe was fighting to gain power to prove it’s greatness as a nation, and would do so by whatever means necessary. Germany and Russia were particularly ahead of the others, boosting their egos and even influencing their public policy. Europeans wanted bigger, better militaries because they believed that having more power would prove their strength as a country. This belief would prove to be a great mistake and was, of course, was sprouted under the same notion mentioned previously;

I am going to start with how the Germans had fear of Germany becoming a communist country like Russia. At the end of the war, many people hoped that democracy would spread to most countries of the world. They did not want to be controlled by a dictatorship which would lead them into a communist country.

The music of Stravinsky has always been “ahead of time” in the way of using new and different ways of presenting music. His early ballets such as Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring being a great example of his modernism and will to compose music which is both innovative and shocking. For this essay I have chosen to write about The Firebird (1910) and The Rite of Spring (1913). Firebird was Stravinsky’s first Ballet and his first composition that reached many people because of its modernism and exoticism. The Rite of Spring is still renowned for its portrayal of primitivism, a concept that was accentuated by the riot that happened at its premiere.

“The Rite of Spring” (Le Sacre du Printemps) Part I: The Adoration of the Earth by Igor Stravinsky was written was written in 1913 for the Paris dance troupe, the Ballets Russes company; the productions of Serge Diaghilev. The ballet was considered controversial and caused a small riot during the performance between the two groups; supporters and detractors.

The book's title and topic originate from Stravinsky's artful dance Rite of Spring, which debuted in Paris in 1913 when workmanship still had the capacity to stun. Delivered by Diaghilev, arranged and moved by Nijinsky, the artful dance sanctioned the people legend of a lady who truly moves herself to death in an agnostic custom to respect the divine forces of spring and fruitfulness. It is in this reversal of life and demise that Eksteins discovers his focal similitude for what was to happen to Europe.

Throughout the vast history of art, historians can find connections throughout the centuries. Artists from the beginning of humankind have been inspired by the world around them. From the Apollo 11 stones to present day, history and culture have provided inspiration and have been the focus of various pieces. Examining artwork from the 15th-18th century, viewers can be shown a whole world that would be unknown to us without these artist’s contributions. History, religion, and cultural events have sculpted the art world, and we can observe this through many pieces during the 15th-18th centuries.